Saturday, May 13, 2006

Thoresby Hall interior.


 In its heyday as a stately home, open to the public, Thoresby Hall's visitors would be greeted by the amazing spectacle of this perfectly preserved Victorian Great Hall, with treasures too many to mention. Sadly, when Lady Manvers died in 1984, the Hall had already been the property of the National Coal board for 4 years, in accordance with their possible intention to open a new mining vein beneath the Estate, and no doubt to minimize problems already caused by subsidence. Thoresby subsequently went through the hands of more than one speculator and much of what you see here was auctioned away. You can read more about Thoresby Hall's final days as a stately home open to the public, on THIS LINK.

Above & below: As long ago as 1907 the schoolchildren of Thoresby Estate would be invited to a Christmas Party at the Hall involving a meal, entertainment, and a gift. These parties were still a great treat in the 1950's. Gifts, dispensed at the end of the evening in the Great Hall, often had a distinct Robin Hood theme because they were mostly items that had been in the tourist's gift shop during the summer season!


 Above and below: The magnificent Blue Drawing Room off the south west corner of the great hall, and deriving its name from the silk on the walls. Note the portraits of the 3rd Earl Manvers and his Countess, painted by Richard Graves (1846 - 1881).


One of Thoresby Hall's most popular attractions was always the carved oak fireplace in the library. (See picture below). This became erroneously credited to Richard J. Tuddesbury of Edwinstowe, who did indeed produce skilled carvings elsewhere for the interior, but was actually produced by Gerrard Robinson of Newcastle, where a newspaper reporter had witnessed its progress in his workshop. In 1869 Robinson was using a picture of this masterpiece as his trade card.


As a child, when walking around the Hall, it would greatly amuse my family that certain items of furniture had often been in our kitchen at 3 Gables, the Woodyard the night before as my father, the foreman at the Woodyard, effected their repair! Readers may also be amused to know that the firewood produced at the Woodyard for Lady Manvers had to be cut to very exacting specifications. Only "billet wood", 9 inches (23 cm) long, 3 inches(8 cm) diameter, and free from knots, was acceptable for her bedroom, sitting room, and dining room!

Above: Two photos from the entrance hall, taken in 2008.

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3 Comments:

Blogger robin hood said...

Thoresby Hall. The interior of the main hall as viewed by the general visiting public in the 1950s.

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Blogger robin hood said...

Sherwood Forest, the Dukeries, Thoresby park, history.

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Blogger robin hood said...

Pierrepont, Manvers, Dukeries, Thoresby Hall, Thoresby Hotel, Thoresby Park, Perlethorpe, Perlethorpe Village, Ollerton, Budby, Sherwood Forest.

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